Wednesday, April 8, 2015

What are the odds, a
fortuitous video from a chance bystander versus police guns and systemic
racism? Finally, a police murder of an unarmed black man is captured in full
film detail: a man running, shot in the back, a gun fired eight times, the victim
handcuffed on the ground while bleeding to death, a cool killer walking away to
get an object (possibly a taser gun) that he then dropped near the victim.

What was in the killer’s
mind? After all, he had to know about Ferguson, to which his city of North
Charleston, S.C., bears a striking similarity: an 80% white police force in a majority black community. That’s pretty much the norm in communities of color across the country. Given past history (and current reality), he didn’t have to
worry much about the odds. He appeared remarkably composed as he followed a
scenario that seemed almost routine.

The
camera doesn’t lie. But there will never be enough cameras to prevent injustice
and indict every violent hater. Only a thoroughly aroused community, of all
colors, can guarantee safety and justice for all.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

There have been and will be other days to criticize Obama. After all, he is Commander-in-Chief of the world's most expansive military and imperial power. But today he deserves full praise and
great respect. It is a monumental achievement to keep the US on track with other
world powers and Iran toward peaceful resolution of differences rather than
resort to war.

No President has encountered
fiercer resistance from a hawkish chorus in Congress, including within his own
party. The political winds in Washington and in Israel blow against any
international agreement with Iran, against any change of course in US policy
away from our failed reliance on military force.

Obama has persisted. Today he
made his case to the American people with logic and clarity. Implicit was
something more important than the specifics of a “deal”. If the US can
cooperate in this matter with Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain, why
not elsewhere where tensions risk conflict and war? Instead of freezing our
outlook on the world in terms of whom Washington perceives as “ally” and whom
as “foe”, why not recognize areas of common interest that make negotiation over
difficult problems necessary and viable.

There are winds across the
globe other than the blowhard rhetoric of Netanyahu and his Congressional
cheering section. No doubt the Iran negotiations are progressing because most
of the world abhors the prospect of more war. Even our European “allies” have
become wary of aggressive and risky US behavior. As Obama indicated today, if
the US were to back off from a developing agreement with Iran, it would separate
itself from the other major powers who are party to the negotiations.

If our
people refuse to be stampeded by a reckless hawkish outcry, today may mark a significant
step toward a less war-oriented foreign policy. The alternative is increasing
alienation from the rational world community, sharing the isolation and
opprobrium that is mounting against Netanyahu’s colonialist regime.

About Me

Leon Wofsy is Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology / Immunology at the University of California at Berkeley. His career in science and academia began when he was almost forty years old. Earlier, for more than fifteen years, he was a leader of Marxist youth organizations. That experience began during the student upheavals at New York’s City College (CCNY) in the late 1930s, and encompassed the time of McCarthyism in the 1950s. He became a professor at UC Berkeley in 1964 just as the Free Speech Movement was about to erupt. He is the author of many scientific papers and articles on social issues. He edited a book on the Cold War, Before the Point of No Return (Monthly Review Press, 1986). His memoir, Looking for the Future (IW Rose Press, 1995) is available online in the Free Speech Movement Archives, Book Collection, UC Bancroft Library.